Separatist Leader Geelani’s Passport Suspended

Srinagar: The government on Tuesday suspended the passport of Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani for four weeks. The move came as the chairman of Hurriyat Conference, Geelani had accepted an invitation from the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) to participate in a meeting scheduled to be held in New York on September 27.

Besides Geelani, two more Kashmiri separatist leaders — Mirwaiz Umar Farooq — have also got invitation to participate in the OIC meeting. Geelani was issued a short-term passport for nine months in July this year after the government rejected his half-hearted application a month earlier saying his application was incomplete.

A few days ago, Geelani’s spokesman had acknowledged his travel plans to the US, but said the Hurriyat chairman had been invited by the OIC many times in the past but could not go due to non-availability of travel document.